Comminution in the mineral processing industry consists of coarse and fine crushing followed by grinding in a ball mill and size separation by pump and hydrocyclone. This conventional method of size separation requires a pump and hydrocyclone to carry out the separation. This method consumes a high amount of energy and wear on the pump. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,555,253 and 4,475,932 of Hull, et al (Nov. 16, 1985 and Oct. 9, 1984) describe a gas-liquid separation system using a circulating pump and creating a vortex in the separator.
The liquid vortex separator introduces the separating force directly into one unit. Rotational motion is imparted to the feed liquid by an impeller at the feed end of the tube and the light and heavy products are collected at the discharge end. The impeller is simple in construction and clearances required are less critical than in a slurry pump, making the liquid vortex separator requiring less maintenance resulting in a more reliable unit.